1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental-hygeine products, and in particular to a package for dispensing dental floss and accepting a series of disposable toothbrushes.
2. Description Of the Related Art
The traditional toothbrush consists of a generally elongate handle that terminates in an array of stiff bristles projecting at right angles to the handle. These bristles, usually made from a durable, flexible material such as nylon, are frequently rounded and tapered for user comfort and to encourage smooth brushing strokes.
Despite its mundane usage, the toothbrush has attracted substantial engineering attention in response to dental studies demonstrating persistent patterns of improper use and to accommodate particular dental conditions. For example, many toothbrushes now contain canted heads, wherein the portion of the handle bearing the bristles forms an angle with the remainder; this construction eases access to difficult-to-reach mandibular regions. Purchasers can choose among a range of bristle stiffness values, and the array of bristles may be tilted, beveled or otherwise shaped to increase cleaning efficacy.
Such advances have certainly reduced tooth decay among healthy consumer population, and reflect increased popular and medical attention to the benefits of dental hygeine. However, this very attention has also prompted recognition of the need to maintain the dental health of medically compromised patients--individuals for whom such care had once been considered extravagant. Thus, oncology patients now receive frequent dental examinations and tooth care, with the result that fewer such patients develop oral infections; and care providers regularly clean the teeth of convalescents and paralytics unable adequately to brush properly.
In a large institutional setting, such as a hospital, toothbrushes are frequently discarded after a single use. This practice avoids the spread of infection through inadvertent application of a single toothbrush to multiple patients, and reflects the impracticality of associating easily confused medical utensils with particular individuals. This practice is wasteful of toothbrushes that have been manufactured for extended use. Furthermore, since these toothbrushes are typically packaged individually, storage requirements for large patient populations can be considerable.
Cost and inconvenience may be increased further by the need to maintain toothbrushes having different constructions and bristle grades for different patient subsets.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,890, I disclosed an interchangeable toothbrush system that affords the convenience of single-use brushes which may be received within a handheld base. This device does not, however, provide a convenient source of dental floss for use in conjunction with the toothbrush. If the benefits of flossing are to be realized, a supply of floss must be carried separately.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,028 describes a package having a handle capable of receiving a separable toothbrush and including an interior space for housing dental accessories including floss. To obtain access to the dental floss, however, a user must manually separate the handle into segments--an operation that is not only inconvenient, but can also tend to wear out the interfitting members that join the handle segments.